Business Reporter

The sharemarket closed higher for the tenth session in a row, buoyed by a push from miner as banks took a rest for the day.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 added 7.7 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 4896.7, while the broader All Ordinaries gained 8.3 per cent, or 0.2 per cent, to 4919.1.

The 10 days of gains on the ASX200 mark the longest winning streak since October 2003, which ran for 11 days.

The marginal gains saw a switch in investor preference, with materials holding the market in the black, as the financial sector, which has led most of the current rally, slowed down slightly for the day.

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Among the sectors, materials jumped 0.9 per cent, energy added 1 per cent and financials inched up 0.2 per cent.

Consumer staples and consumer discretionary both lost ground, down 1 per cent and 0.7 per cent respectively. Telecommunication also slipped, down 1.7 per cent.

Head of risk and execution at Citi Sean Larcombe said after 10 days in a row with the market in positive territory, there seemed to be a bit of fatigue setting in with the focus on offshore data overnight.

‘‘You’ve got the FOMC meeting [in the US], two large bond auctions in Europe, US and Spanish GDP, US employment data coming out and a whole raft of companies reporting, including Facebook,’’ said Mr Larcombe.

‘‘The iron ore price seems to have consolidated at this level, if it holds at this level, then some resource names look a lot more attractive,’’ said Mr Larcombe.

The big banks halted their charge forward today, with ANZ the only to post gains, up 0.3 per cent to $26.58. NAB fell 0.3 per cent to $27.64, Westpac lost 0.2 per cent to $28.17 and CBA was relatively flat, dropping less than 0.1 per cent to $64.70.

‘‘Financials has been the only sector to see net earnings upgrade on a global basis through this reporting period. The US is seeing the same sort of thematics that we’re seeing in our market in terms of that flow of funds into the financials,’’ he said.

Wesfarmers shares slid today, despite reporting increases in sales across all its retail businesses. Shares fell 1.8 per cent to $38.13, while rival Woolworths, which reports tomorrow, lost 0.7 per cent to $31.65.

Media shares also took a bit of a battering, Ten Network dropped 2.9 per cent to 33.5 cents, Fairfax Media slide 2.7 per cent to 55 cents, Seven West Media fell 1.9 per cent to $2.10 and APN Media lost 1.6 per cent to 30.5 cents.